When I started Huck Finn, I wasn't so sure. Actually, I was sure -- sure that I wouldn't like it. It was right after reading another novel. It was long. It was a sequel to a novel I've never read. It was all about hillbillies running rampant on a river and talking in some hyphenated mixed-up language that kinda sorta resembled English. So yes, I was skeptical to say the least. But I stuck to it and kept on reading (not by choice, of course). About halfway through, I realized that I actually liked Huck. I caught myself laughing at him and Jim's antics, and found myself flipping page after page to see what happened to the duo. It turned out to be a pretty quick and easy surface read - analysis and interpretation, as with any literary classic, was lengthy - and I ended up enjoying the novel. Maybe it just comes with experience, but I really feel like I'm picking up on a lot more than I used to. Spotting all those literary elements like foreshadowing and symbolism was almost as easy as playing I Spy with a six year old. Picking out the themes of the novel - not so easy. The whole message about racism and slavery is pretty in-your-face, so I knew that Twain - being the literary genius that he is - had a few more things up his sleeve. I did a little bit of digging, pondering, flipping to random pages, etc. before I fully grasped what he was trying to say to me.
What I stumbled upon makes me think that I need to read the whole book over again. As it turns out, Twain isn't just pointing fingers at the racists - he questions the importance of religion, education, conformity... the list really does go on and on. The jabs he makes at the inherent flaws of human nature were so subtle, so crafty, so brilliantly planted that I guess he convinced me to agree with him before I even realized what I was doing. If Huck Finn hadn't been so successful, I'm sure that Twain would have been a fantastic psychologist. Or politician... but he probably would have made fun of them too.
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